31 



tribut ion iiiai) and j^iviii^ all Mic accession muiilH'r.s and when; lluj 

 specimens arc to bo found in the collection, and after it all the notes 

 on that species. 



In keeping these records the ollice clerk enters any data slaniped on 

 tlie letter in tlie correspondence file and the food cataloj^ue. He also 

 makes all ent i-ics of the food cataloiLTue an<l accession cataloirne on the 

 distribution map card, which gives the position of the specimen in the 

 collection. 



Two collections ai'e being formed, one an ordinai-y systematic col- 

 lection and the other an economic or biologic collection, arianged 

 according to the food plants of the insects and the i)arts of the plant 

 attacked. Both collections are kept on the Cornell block system, in 

 glass cases, with the exception that cork carpet is used instead of the 

 larger sizes of blocks, which are prone to warp. Where the insects 

 are placed in the collection according to the food plant, it is mani- 

 festly impossible to find a si^ecimen which may have a number of food 

 plants, or if one does not happen to remember the food. To obviate 

 this a system has been devised whereby tlie accession number indi- 

 cates the place of the specimen in the collection. If the specimen is in 

 the systematic collection, an "S" is placed after the numl)er, as 324 S, 

 and is at once easily found in its proper place. For indicating the 

 place in tlie economic collection a fractional number is used in which 

 the numerator is the accession serial munber, and the denominator 

 indicjites its position in the collection the same as a shelf numlu'r in 

 a librai-y. Indeed, the same system is used. Each block is numbered 

 the same as a book, according to the decimal system. For this I have 

 used a modilication of the outline furnished by the library of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture for the classification of tlie 

 ])ooks on agriculture. This brings all plants of a natural group under 

 a given numbei- and gives each individual plant a numlier indicating 

 its position in the larger group. Also the part of the plant attacked 

 is indicated by a number following a dash after the plant number. 



170 L 

 Thus ,777-^; would mean that the specimen is a larva (L), accession 



No. 17G, and is to be found at .'30.26 in the collection. 



This later number is to be found on the front of the case in whicli 

 the si)ocimen is, or is included in the numbers of the first and last 

 specimens in that case which are given on tlu' front. The first digit 

 of this number (.'}) indicates that the plant is a vegetable-garden vege- 

 table; the second (0) tliat it is a solanaceous j)lant; the first digit 

 after the decimal point that it is the tomato, wiiose numlier is 3f).2. 

 After this the <■» indicates tliat it is the fi-uil of the tomato which is 

 injured. In like manner had this accession number a denominator 

 11.00 it would indicate that the insect alTects the fi-uit (ear) of corn 

 and is to be found at that point in tlu; collection, or 1.'>.10, cotton, etc. 

 This numl)er can be readilv found bv referring to the general decimal 



